Uberti 1866 in 38 Special

[375Short]

Has anyone tried an 1866 in this caliber and have thoughts / opinions to share concerning accuracy / reliability or anything else note worthy?

[edgehit]

Let us know how it shoots! We want a full report.

[DAVIDMAGNUM]

I watched someone shoot a 37 out of 40 with one.......using the factory sights.

[Rotnguns]

That Yellow Boy on their website is one beautiful rifle. Please let us know how it shoots if you get one!

[375Short]

Arrived yesterday. Spent today getting it ready to shoot. Installed a 17a front and MVA base on the tang. Cleaned the bore of whatever it is that is always in a new Ubert bore. Took the 9.5 pound trigger to 3 pounds, will need a little more work later if it seems worthy after shooting. Not sure how much force it required to push a cartridge through the gate, A Lot! seems to fall short as the description. Spent time on that issue. Was able to remove all the butter soft screws without screwing up the heads. I think that is a first. If it is a keeper I’ll go back and cleanup the inside of the receiver. It has a number of brass fishhooks and various other sharp edges that could cause a need for stitches. Summery, typical Uberti thus far.

Does anyone have a new production 66 from Winchester? If so, are they free of the issues above?

[375Short]

Got to do a little test fire today. All at 50y, all cast, 7 different bullets with weights from 105 to 212 with 5 different powders. Loaded OAL ran from 1.40” to 1.59”.The average accuracy was 1.75” with none significantly better or worse. Everything fed perfectly. I think it will serve its purpose and with a little work prove to be adequately accurate. I was surprised it would stabilize two different 200gr+ .358 rifle bullets at speeds under 1000fps.

[TheBugFather]

post pictures please

[375Short]

It doesn’t look like (or act) anything special. It’s indistinguishable from the 24” 1866’s on the Uberti, Taylor’s or Cimarron web pages, except they have good photos. I used it in a Match this weekend loaded with 105g cast running about 1050. Compared to my .22 mag it put Rams down with satisfying authority. Recoil is mild and the muzzle blast less noticeable than my .22 mag version. That’s likely just a product of subsonic v. Super sonic. Now for accuracy refinement load development as the spring wind allows.

I have been shooting cast since I began Lever Action but must admit to being drawn into the thought of jacketed. In my wishful thoughts I feel like better accuracy may be less work. Or it’s just different and eventually trying something different has an allure.

[TheBugFather]

110gr or 125gr Hornady, 110 if you have a relatively slow twist like the Winchesters (1-19) or 125 for faster twists like Marlin (1-16), that don't like the light bullets.

Dennis

[375Short]

It does look like this rifle will get fed jacketed bullets. I have tested over 25 cast bullet / powder combos with no 50y group better than 1.5”. I tested two jacketed bullet loads. A 125 and a 158. Both shot 1” @ 50y out the gate even with fairly high ES numbers. Another observation is standard pressure.38 loads from a 24” barrel are fast. It is everything a .357 is from a pistol. That places loads that are very similar in performance to the very mild .357 loads I use in my 73 for CLA within the little.38’s reach. If someone was to show up shooting a .38 for CLA they may be the leader of the minimal necessary race.

[cedestech]

158SWC soft nose, don’t remember how much Long Shot but it was +p range. 2.5-3”@100. I had problems with carbon build up 3-6” past the throat so watch for it.

[edgehit]

Wayne will get it figure out. He’ll commit the time and brain power. Me, I rely on AI these days!

Carbon buildup in pistol cartridges is a challenge. And who likes cleaning? Oh yeah, black powder sports.

We’re really stuck with double based powder offerings that burn evenly at the lower pressures our PC rifles require, but at the cost of carbon buildup.

An exception is VV N320 in the 357 with 158’s and 125. It’s a single base powder I’ve found to be position insensitive and one of the cleanest burning in 9mm, but don’t take my word for it… http://www.natoreloading.com/n320/

Another powder I tried from natoreloading is Accurate #2. It is advertised as position insensitive and clean burning. It is living up to the claims and I’ll be selling my stash of Titegroup.

But with 38 special rifles, I think you have to try slower powders first to moderate the effects of cold bore shots being out of the group and trashing your ES spread. I’ve found this phenomenon to be real and it really came to light when retesting a load that I thought was a performer only to see dramatic 1st shots be 200 fps slower than the rest.

I later learned this is also true of match 22lr ammo and a YouTube PRS-22 influencer named Josh confirmed the use of a blow tube eliminated the low V flier. But who wants to blow their rifle?

[hermit5]

Titegroup in 357 and 125s has treated me very well in PC Leveraction silhouette.
The carbon build up is excessive anymore.Its not even like carbon ,more like a melted plastic.Even Bore Tech C4 carbon remover
or Wipe Out hardly touches this build up.
Thank you for suggesting VN320 and AA#2.

[edgehit]

N 340 is another good one but my landscape crew relieved me of that 4-lb jug before I got loads developed. The interesting feature of the VV Powders is their bulkier than the flattened ball powders and meter very well.

[lmohar]

N340 and N350 do produce first shot low velocity for me as well. 1100 to 1200 .44 mag loads 240 grain cast and coat or jacketed. Mag primers may help. Meters very well and is relatively bulky. VV describes the energy per unit volume of its powders, this can help one decide on the appropriate powder. Heavy black "soot" is evident during cleaning even after a few rounds. Boretech Carbon Remover works well, takes several patches, however. Seems to remove nearly all the "soot". Marlin 1894 Accuracy is marginal (3moa-ish) with these loads but recoil is tolerable. More pressure improves accuracy to some degree. Have yet to try cast and waxed.That is in the works.